Horse hay-rake



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. G. WALKER. HORSE HAY'RAKE.

No. 459,617. Patented Sept. 15, 1891.'

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witnesses (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

H. G. WALKER.

HORSE HAY RAKE. No. 459,617. Patented Sept. 15 1 89'1.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE G. WVALKER, OF SOMERSET, PENNSYLVANIA.

HORSE HAY-RAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,617, datedSeptember 15, 1891.

Application filed December '7, 1889- Serial No. 332,900. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE G. WALKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Somerset, in the county of Somerset and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Horse Hay-Rake, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to horse hay-rakes; and it has for its object toprovide a machine of this class which shall possess superior advantagesin point of simplicity, durability, and general efficiency.

\Vith these ends in view the invention consists in the improvedconstruction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which will behereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a perspective view of myimproved horse hay-rake. same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional viewtaken through the rake-head on the line .1: :r in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal sectional view. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing amodification in the construction of the operating-lever and showing theseat-support hinged to the thill-frame. Fig. 6 is a detailed viewshowing a modification in the construction of the clearers. Fig. '7 is adetail view showing the preferred method of connecting the thill-framewith the rake-head. Fig. 8 is a detail view, on a larger scale, of thelever 47 and the supplementary lever or treadle. Fig. 9 is a detail viewof the U-shaped bail and treadle to show the supplemental treadleindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Fig. 10 is a detail view showinginelevation thelever 47 and the supplementary treadle and in section thecross-bar 19, to which the latter-is attached.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

The rake-head 1 is provided at its ends with spindles or stud-axles 2for the wheels 3, which latter may be of any suitable construction. Thespindles are fitted in grooves or channels 4, formed in the under sideof the rake-head at the ends of the latter, and they are rigidly securedin said grooves by means of bolts 5 at their inner ends. 7 p

6 designates a truss the ends of which are arranged in the grooves orchannels 4: and

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the V structed of steel wire, and whichconsist of the straight vertical shanks 1], the upper ends of which arebent forwardly, downwardly, and rearwardly to form the eyes orspringcoils 13, from which the rearwardly, downwardly, and forwardlycurved bodies of the The shanks 11 of the raketeeth extend. teeth extendvertically through perforations 12 in the rake-head, and the teeth aresecured in position in the rake-head icy/means of a cross-bar 14, boltedor otherwise attached to the upper side of therake-head and provided onits under side with grooves 15, in which the individual rake-teeth areseated and by which they are prevented from being displaced laterally.In this manner the raketeeth may be very inexpensively constructed,

while at the same time they will be held very securely in the mostefficient position for operation and in such a manner as to be capableof yielding vertically within the confines of the slots 1 5. The shanks11 of the rake-teeth, which extend through the perforations 12, arescrew-threaded to receive the nuts 12, by means of which the rake-teethare secured. It will also be seen that by tightening these nuts thetension of the eyes of spring-coi1s13 may be regulated, thus regulatingthe stiifness or rigidity of the teeth.

16 designates the thill-frame, which comprises the thills 17, connectedat their rear ends by a cross-bar 18 and at some distance in advance ofsaid cross-bar by another crossbar 19. The cross-bars 18 and 19 areconnected, respectively, on their under and upper sides by longitudinalframe-bars 20 and 21. The thills are provided at their rear ends withthe thill-irons 22, having transverse eyes or perforations 23, by meansof which they may be connected adjustably with the coup- Saidcoupling-plates preferably consist of U- shaped plates, the flanges ofwhich 25 are each provided with a series of perforations 26 to receivethe bolt 27, by means of which they are connected with the chill-iron.It will thus be seen that the point of attachment of the thill-frame tothe rake-head may be varied with relation to the pivoting-point of thelatter, which is formed by the spindles working in thesupporting-wheels. Thus by attaching the draft slightly in rear of thepivoting-point the draft will assist in tilting the rake-head when theload is to be dis charged. By attaching the draft slightly in front ofthe pivoting-frame the weight of the driver will have the same effect inassisting the tilting of the rake-head, as will be'presently more fullydescribed.

28 designates an inclined support, the lower end of which is attached tothe cross-bar 19 of the thill-frame and the upper rear end of which isconnected by a brace 29 with the cross-bar 18 of said frame.

30 designates the plate, the sides of which are provided withdownwardlyextending flanges 31, fitting on either side of the support28, and with upwardly-extendin g lu gs 32, between which is fitted thespring-bar 33, the upper end of which carries the drivers seat 34. Theseat-bar 33 is attached securely to the support 28 by means of abolt 35,passing through said support and through the plate 30 and spring-bar33,and several perforations may be formed in the latter to admit of theadjustment of the drivers seat. seen that the weight of the driver restsupon the brace 29, which'is attached to the crossbar 18 at the rear endof the thill-frame. Hence when the thill-frame is connected to therake-head in front of the pivoting-point of the latter the weight of thedriver will materially assist in tilting the rake-head for the dischargeof the load.

The rear side of the rake-head is provided at its ends withdownwardly-extending brackets 36, to the lower end of which arepivotally-connected the lower ends of the arms 37, which extenddownwardly from the clearerhead 38, which is provided with tines 39,which extend upwardly between the raketeeth and which may be of anysuitable construction.

Suitably connected to the upper side of the clearer-head is a rod 40,the upper end of which has a loop 41, which is connected with a staple42 upon the under side of the seatsupport 28. It will be seen that bythis construction the clearer-tines Will remain in an upright positionwhile the load is accumulated by the rake. When the rake-head is tiltedin the act of dumping the load, the connecting-rod 40 will force theclearer-head in a rearward direction along the curve of the rake-teeth,thus effectually disengaging the load from the latter and enabling themto be quickly restored to their operative position. At the same time itwill be seen that while It will be.

the operation of dumping the load is being performed the clearer-headwill be free to move vertically within the limit of the length of theslot or loop 41 at the upper end of the connecting-rod 40. Danger ofbreakage will thus be avoided and the operation be rem dered morecertain and satisfactory. By this construction of the clearer myimprovedhorserake is also enabled to work satisfactorily in heavy and bunchyhay, which it has been difficult, if not impossible, to manipulate witha hay-rake of ordinary construction.

Suitably mounted upon the longitudinal top bar 21 of the thill-frame isa plate or casting 43, having a perforated lug 44 and a perforatedbracket 45, the perforations in which are in alignment with each otherand adapted to receive a bolt 46, upon which is pivoted a lever 47, theforward end of which is bent so as to form a crank or pedal 48.

49 designates a U-shaped frame, one arm of which is pivoted upon thebolt 46 and the other arm of which is connected pivotally, by means of abolt 50, to the side of the support 28, the bolts 46 and 50 being in aline with each other. The arm of the frame 49, adjacent to the lever 47,is connected with said lever by means of a grooved or channeledclamping-plate 51, and between the rear ends of the lever 47 and theU-shaped frame 49 is pivoted a rearwardly-extending arm or lever 52,which is in turn connected pivotally with an arm or bracket 53,extending upwardly from the rake-head. When the forwardlyextending armof the lever 47 is depressed to its utmost extent and is in contact withthe bracket 45 of the plate or casting 43, the point at which the arm orlever 52 is pivoted be-. tween the frame 49 and the lever 47 is in ahigher plane than the fulcrum of said lever 47 and frame 49, and alock-joint is thereby formed, which retains the rake-head in positionfor gathering the load. When it shall be desired to discharge the load,the 1ock-joint may be broken by a slight pressure of the foot of thedriver upon the rear part of the U-shaped frame 49, and the rake-headwill thus be instantly and automatically tilted. By the tilting of therake-head the forward arm of the lever 47 will be thrown in an upwarddirection until the crank or handle 48 is withinconvenient reach of thedriver, who may thus, by manipulating the lever 47 as a hand-lever,complete the tilting of the rakehead and eifectually discharge the load.To restore the rake-head to operative position the driver merely presseswith his left foot upon an arm or crank 54, which is formed at the frontend of that arm of the U-shaped frame 49 which is pivoted to the side ofthe seat-support. The operation is thereby reversed and the severalparts restored to their normal operative position.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings I have shown. a modification in theconstruction of the operating-lever which may be described as follows:56 is a rod extending transversely through and journaled in theseat-support and provided at its ends with forwardly-extending arms 57and 58, the latter of which has its front end bent outwardly, so as toform a crank 59. Upon the opposite end of the rod 56, which is providedwith the arm 57, is mounted a lever 60, which is rigidly connected withthe front end of the arm 57, so as to work in unison therewith, by thefront end of said arm 57 beingbcnt,asshown at61, and extended through aperforation 62 in the lever 60. The front and rear ends of the lever 60are bent so as to form cranks 63 64, and the rear end of said lever isconnected by the pivoted rod 65 with the arm or bracket 53, extendingupwardly from the rake-head. It will be observed that this constructionis practically identical with that already described, the crank 59 beingthe equivalent of the crank 54, the crank 63 the equivalent of thehandle48, and the crank 64 being a substitute for the treadle formed bytherear part of the U- shaped frame 49. The operation of these devices willbe readily understood from the foregoing description. This modified formof opcrating-lever has, in the drawings hereto annexed, been shown asapplied to a seat-support, which, instead of being rigidly secured tothe thill-frame, is hinged between the flanges 65 of a U-shaped plate66, secured upon the cross-bar 19 of said thill-frame, while the rearend of said seat-support is connected by a hinged or pivoted brace 67with the rake-head at a point in front of the fulcrum of the latter, inorder that the weight of the driver may assist in tilting the rake-headto discharge the load.

In Fig. 5 I have also shown the thill-frame connected with the rake-headby means of thill-irons hinged in staples upon the under side of thelatter, and I would have it understood that this or any other convenientmethod of connecting the thill-frame with the rakehead may be employedwhen desired,so long as it does not depart from my invention.

If preferred, there may be adopted a slight change in structure, asillustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings, which relates to the method ofconnecting the tines 39 with .the clearerhead 38. By this method therear or under side of the clearer-head is provided with a groove 68, andtransverse perforations 69 are formed in the clearer-head to receive theshanks of the tines, the lower or rear ends of which are bent laterally,as shown at 7 0, so as fit in the groove 68, where they are confined bymeans of hooks or staples 71, driven into the clearer-head. By thismethod of construction the tines are secured very firmly in theclearerhead and are prevented from turning therein. The tines may bestraight, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, or they may be curved, as shown inFig. 6. The said tines may also be arranged to occupy either a verticalor a horizontal position.

When the rake is passing over rough and uneven ground, or when bowldersor other obstructions are to be passed, it is sometimes desirable thatthe lock-joint of the operatinglevers should be broken, in order toenable the tines of the rake to yield sufficiently to pass over suchobstructions as may be encountered and which they would not readily beable to clear by their natural resiliency without digging into theground. At the same time it is desirable that the driver should haveperfect control over the said operating-levers in order to prevent therake-head from swing ing sufficiently to dump or discharge the load. Toaccomplish this purpose I avail myself of mechanism, which has beenshown in Fig. l and on a larger scale in Fig. 8 of the drawings, andwhich consists of a supplementary lever or treadle 75, which is mountedpivotally upon a bracket 76, secured upon the front cross-bar 19 of thethill-frarne, directly under the lever 47 and in front of the fulcrum ofthe latter. The lever or treadle 75 has a footpiece 77 and a flange 78,extending under the lever 47. It will be seen that by means of the saidsupplementary lever or treadle the front end of the lever 47may bethrown in an upward direction sufficiently to break the lock-joint ofthe operating-levers. This operation the driver may perform with theheel of one foot, while he keeps the ball of the foot upon the treadle48, whereby he retains. perfect control over the operating-lever.

It is obvious that the operation performed by the supplementary lever ortreadle 75 is identical with that which the driver might perform bydepressing the rear end of the U-shaped bail 49. By operating the saidU-shaped bail, however, there would always be danger of throwing thelevers too far, in which event the driver would be unable to retainpontrol of thelevers and the load would be discharged. The supplementarylever 75, on the other hand, is so arranged as to merely break thelock-joint, it being impossible for the said supplementary lever tooperate the lever 47 to such an extent as to cause the driver to losecontrol of the treadle 48.

The construction of the device for breaking the lock-joints might bemodified in numerous ways, and in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawingsand full lines, Fig. 9, I have illustrated one such modification, whichconsists in providing the arm of the pivoted U-shaped bail, in rear ofthe fulcrum 50, with a supplemental treadle 80, upon which the drivermay place the heel of his foot, while the ball of his foot rests uponthe treadle 54. It will thus be seen that the driver is enabled, bypressure of his heel upon the treadle 80, to'break the lockjoint withoutdanger of losing control of the treadle 48, upon which his other footconstantly rests. Other modifications might be 48 of said lever andwithout resorting to theuse of hand-levers for the purpose ofrestraining the tilting of the rake-head, and this purpose is retainedby any of the constructions herein described.

The operation of my invention and its advantages will be readilyunderstood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with thedrawings hereto annexed, by those skilled in the art to which itappertains. I would have it understood, however, that I do not desire tolimit myself to the particular forms of construction herein shown anddescribed, inasmuch as various changes maybe made without affecting thegeneral combination of parts or the construction of the device as awhole. I therefore reserve the right to make any such changes andalterations as may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1 1. The combination of therake-head having grooves or channels in its under side, the spindlesmounted in said grooves, and a truss having its ends inserted into saidgrooves and secured by means of the bolts which secure the inner ends ofthe spindles, substantially as set forth. v

2. Therake-headhavinga groove or channel in itsunderside,in combinationwith the spinto said brackets and tines extending rearwardly between theraketeeth, the thillframe having the inclined seat-support extendingover the rake-head, and a rod connecting the clearer-head with the upperrear end of said seat-support,substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

4. The combination of the rake-head having downwardly-extendingbrackets, the clearerhead having downwardly-extending arms hinged tosaid brackets and tines extending rearwardly between the rake-teeth, thethillframe hinged to the rake-head and having the seat-support, and arod connected slidingly to to the latter and having its lower endconnected with the clearer-head, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the tilting rakehead havingdownwardly-extending brackets, of the clearer-head havingdownwardlyextending arms hinged to said brackets, the hinged thill-framehaving the seat-support, and a connecting-rod attached to the c1earerhead and provided at its upper end with a loop or slot connected with astaple upon the under side of the seat-support, substantially as setforth.

6. The combination of the rake-head having downwardly-extendingbrackets, the clearerhead arranged in front of the rake-teeth and havingdownwardly-extending arms hinged to said brackets and the tinesextending rearwardly between the rake-teeth,the thill-frame, and a rodconnecting the clearer-head with an upright upon the thill-frame,substantially as set forth.

'7. The combination of the rake-head, the thill-frame hinged thereto andhaving the seat-support, a pair of rigidly-connected levers mountedpivotally on opposite sides of the seat-support, both having treadlesextending in front of their fulcra and one of said levers having anadditional treadle in rear of its fulcrum, and a connecting-rodconnected pivotally with one of said levers in rear of its fulcrum andwith the upper end of a bracket extending upwardly from the rake-head,all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

8. The combination of the rake-head, the thill-frame having theseat-support, a plate or casting secured to said thill-frame and havinga perforated lug and a perforated bracket, a U-shaped frame having itsarms pivoted, respectively between said lug or bracket and to theseat-support and provided with a forwardly-extending crank-arm ortreadle, a lever pivoted between the perforated lug and the perforatedbracket and having the forwardly -extending crank -arm or handle, achannel-plate connecting said lever rigidly with the adjacent arm of theU- shaped frame, an arm or bracket extending upwardly from therake-head, and a rod pivoted to the upper end of the said bracket andhaving its rear end mounted pivotally between the rear end of the leverand the adjacent arm of the U-shaped frame, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

9. In a hay-rake of the class described, the combination, with thethill-frame and the tilting rake-head,of the operating-levers connectedrigidly with each other and arranged on opposite sides of theseat-support, a pivoted rod connecting one of said levers with an arm orbracket extending upwardly from the rake-head, a treadle extending fromone of the levers in rear of the fulcrum and serving to tilt the rakehead, and additional treadles extending from the two levers in front ofand at different distances from the fulcrum and serving, respectively,to restrain the tilting movement of the rake-head and to restore thelatter to operative position, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination, with the thill-frame having the seat-support, ofthe plate having downwardly-extending flanges clamping the saidseat-support and upwardly-extending lugs, and the seat-sprin g pivotedbetween said lugs and secured by means of a bolt extending through saidspring, plate, and seat-support, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

11. The combination of the rake-head, the thill-frame hinged thereto andhaving the seat-support, a pair of levers pivoted in the same axial lineand havingforwardly-extending crank-arms, a treadle formed in rear ofthe fulcrum of said levers, an arm or bracket extending upwardly fromthe rake-head, a pivoted rod connecting the upper end of said bracketwith the rear end of one of the levers, and a supplementary lever ortreadle arranged under the front end of said lever and having a flangeor cam extending under the same and adapted to throw it in a downwarddirection from the dead-center, so as to break the lock joints,substantially as set forth.

12. In a hay-rake, the combination, with the operating-lever connectedby a pivoted rod with the rake-head and arranged to form a lock-jointwith said connectingrod when the rake-head is in operative position, ofa treadle pivoted independently of said operating-lever and having aflange adapted to bear against said operating-lever and to actuate thelatter to break the lock-joint, substantially as set forth.

13. In a hay-rake, the combination, with the operating-lever connectedby a pivoted rod with the rake-head and arranged to form a lock-jointwith the said connecting-rod when the rake-head is in operativeposition, of an independentlypivoted treadle arranged at the front endof the operating-lever, whereby the lock-joint of the latter may bebroken without the removal of the foot of the operator from the crank ortreadle of said operating-lever, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

14. In a hay-rake of the class described, the combination, with thethill-frame and the tiltin g rake-head, of the operating-leversconnected rigidly with each other and arranged on opposite sides of theseat-support, a pivoted rod connecting one of said levers with an arm orbracket extending upwardly from the rakehead, and two treadles extendingfrom the two levers in front of and at different distances from thefulcrum and serving, respectively, to tilt the rake-head and to restrainor retard the tilting movement of the latter, sub-' stantially as setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

HORACE G. WALKER.

\Vitnesses:

JAMES E. FEBNER, EDWIN C. FERNER.

